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Thomas Frognall Dibdin
Thomas Frognall Dibdin (1776 – 18 November 1847) was an English poet and bibliographer. Life Digbin was, born at Calcutta, the son of Thomas Dibdin, the sailor brother of Charles Dibdin. He was orphaned at a young age: His father died in 1778 while returning to England and his mother died in one of the following two years. An elderly maternal aunt eventually assumed responsibility for Dibdin.David A. Stoker, "Thomas Frognall Dibdin", Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 184: Nineteenth-Century British Book-Collectors and Bibliographers. The Gale Group, 1997. He was educated at St John's College, Oxford, where he earned a B.A. in 1801 and (later) an M.A. and a D.D. in 1825. He also studied briefly in 1794 at Lincoln's Inn.[ Rev. Thomas Frognall Dibdin(1776-1847)] English Poetry, 1579-1830, Center for Applied Technologis in the Humanities, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University. Web, June 4, 2016. After an unsuccessful attempt to obtain practice as a provincial counsel at Worcester, he was ordained a clergyman at the close of 1804, being appointed to a curacy at Kensington. It was not until 1823 that he received the living of Exning in Sussex. Soon afterwards he was appointed by Lord Liverpool to the rectory of St Mary's, Bryanston Square, which he held until his death. The first of his numerous bibliographical works was his Introduction to the Knowledge of Editions of the Classics (1802), which brought him to the notice of George John Spencer, 2nd Earl Spencer, to whom he owed much important aid in his bibliographical pursuits. Dibdin was the originator and vice-president, Earl Spencer being the president, of the Roxburghe Club, the first "book club", founded in 1812. Spencer's rich library at Althorp was thrown open to him; he spent much of his time in it, and in 1814–1815 published his Bibliotheca Spenceriana. As the library was not open to the general public, the information given in the Bibliotheca was found very useful, but since its author was unable even to read the characters in which the books he described were written, the work was marred by the errors which more or less characterize all his productions. This fault of inaccuracy however was less obtrusive in his series of playful, discursive works in the form of dialogues on his favourite subject, the first of which, Bibliomania (1809), was republished with large additions in 1811, and was very popular, passing through numerous editions. To the same class belonged the Bibliographical Decameron, a larger work, which appeared in 1817. In 1810 he began the publication of a new and much extended edition of Ames's Typographical Antiquities. The first volume was a great success, but the publication was checked by the failure of the fourth volume, and was never completed. In 1818 Dibdin was commissioned by Earl Spencer to purchase books for him on the continent, an expedition described in his sumptuous Bibliographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour in France and Germany (1821). In 1824 he made an ambitious venture in his Library Companion, or the Young Man's Guide and Old Man's Comfort in the Choice of a Library, intended to point out the best works in all departments of literature. His culture was not broad enough, however, to render him competent for the task, and the work was severely criticized. For some years Dibdin gave himself up chiefly to religious literature. He returned to bibliography in his Bibliophobia, or Remarks on the Present Depression in the State of Literature and the Book Trade (1832), and the same subject furnishes the main interest of his Reminiscences of a Literary Life (1836), and his Bibliographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour in the Northern Counties of England and Scotland (1838). Publications Poetry *''Poems''. London: privately publihed, 1797. *''Bibliography: A poem, in six books''. London: printed by Harding & Wright, 1812. Novel *''Cranmer: A novel'' (by "a member of the Roxburgh Club"). (3 volumes), London: Henry Colburn, 1839. Non-fiction *''An Introduction to the Knowledge of Rare and Valuable Editions of the Greek and Latin Classics''. 1802; London: W. Dwyer / Hanwell & Parker / et al, 1804; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, & Orme, 1808; London: Harding & Lepard, 1827; Hildesheim, NY: G. Olms, 1977. Volume I, Volume II *''Specimen Bibliotechae Britannicae''. London: printed by William Savage, 1808. *''The Bibliomania; or, Book-madness: Containing some account of the history, symptoms, and cure of this fatal disease''. London: W. Savage, for Longman, Hurst, Rees & Orme, 1809 Volume III **also published as Bibliomania, or Book-madness: A bibliographical romance. London: H.G. Bohn, 1842; London: Chatto & Windus, 1876. *''Typographical Antiquities; or, The history of printing in England Scotland and Ireland''. (4 volumes), London: Willim Miller, 1810-1819. Volume II, Volume III, Volume IV *''Bibliotecha Spenceriana: or a descriptive catalogue of the library of Earl Spencer''. (4 volumes), London: W. Bulmer at Shakespere Press, for Longman, Hurst, Rees, / et al, 1814-1815. *''The Bibliographical Decameron''. (3 volumes), London: printed by W. Bulmer at Shakespeare Press, 1817. Volume I *''A Bibliographical, Antiquarian, and Picturesque Tour in France and Germany''. (3 volumes), London: privately published, printd by W. Bulmer & W. Nicol at Shakespeare Press, 1821; London: Robert Jennings & John Major, 1829. Volume I, Volume II, Volume III *''Aedes Althorpianae: or an account of the mansion, books and pictures at Althorp. (2 volumes), W. Nicol at the Shakespeare Press, for Payne and Foss / Longman, Hurst / J. and A. Arch / et al, 1822. *''The Library Companion; or, The young man's guide, and the old man's comfort, in the choice of a library. (2 volumes), London: Harding, Triphook, and Lepard / J. Major, 1824. Volume II *''Bibliophobia: Remarks on the present languid state of literature and the book trade'' (by "Mercurious Rusticus"). London: H. Bohn, 1832. *''Reminiscences of a literary life''. London: J. Major, 1836. Volume I *''A Bibliographical, Antiquarian and Picturesque Tour in the Northern Counties of England and Scotland''. (3 volumes), London: privately published, printed by C. Richards, 1838. Volume I Collected editions *''Selections'' (edited by Victor E. Neuburg). Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1978. Edited *''The Director: A weekly literary journal''. London: 1807. *''The Sunday Library: A selection of sermons from eminent divines''. (6 volumes), London: Longman, 1831. Volume I, Volume II, Volume III, Volume IV, Volume VI Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Thomas Frognall Dibdin, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, June 4, 2016. See also *List of British poets References * Notes External links ;Poems *"Twickenham Meadows: A poem, written at the age of seventeen years" ;Books * ;About *Dibdin, Thomas Frognall in the Dictionary of National Biography ;Etc. * Category:1776 births Category:1847 deaths Category:Alumni of St John's College, Oxford Category:Date of birth unknown Category:English bibliographers Category:English non-fiction writers Category:Fellows of the Royal Society Category:People from Kolkata Category:People from Westminster Category:English male writers Category:People of British India Category:18th-century poets Category:19th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:English poets Category:Poets